1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of coin-operable product vending machines, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for inventory management and remote monitoring of product sales and vending machine status information.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The term "vending machine" was first used in the early 1900s to refer to a coin-operated merchandise dispensing machine. A wide variety of products ranging from foodstuffs such as snacks, hot or cold beverages, and frozen confections to non-edible merchandise like newspapers, magazines, toiletries, cigarettes or stamps may now be found in vending machines. The basic concept is that a vending machine contains an inventory of a particular product or products available to potential buyers on a twenty-four hour per day basis without the need for the presence of a human sales person. Individual units of merchandise are dispensed in response to a purchaser's order and the deposition of the required purchase price in the form of coins, bills, or debit/credit cards. Vending machines may be located in remote areas where the sales volume would not justify a normal attended sales outlet.
In a typical vending machine business, a number of machines are owned or operated by a single person or entity. Machines are grouped into "routes" and a periodically visited by an attendant who replenishes the merchandise in the machine, replenishes coin and/or bill supplies used for making change, removes any out-of-date merchandise no longer fit for sale, checks and adjusts the machine as required and may also remove the collected monies.
Because each individual machine experiences different traffic patterns and the buying preferences of the customers at each machine site may vary, it has been difficult in the past for machine owners and/or route attendants to efficiently service the machines. If a sold-out condition occurs, sales may be lost and customer good will may be jeopardized. If excessive quantities of products having expiration dates must be discarded because of low sales volume, profits from the machines are diminished.
Some of the problems of vending machine inventory management have previously been addressed. U.S. Pat. No. 4,369,442 for Code Controlled Microcomputer Readout From Coin Operated Machine; issued to Robert L. Werth, et al. on Jan. 18, 1983, teaches a system of counters within a vending machine. A portable collection unit (PCU) may be attached to a vending machine by a machine attendant. The PCU interrogates the machine's internal counters and receives various sales and machine status information. The PCU may also serve as a programming unit to input new information such as price changes, etc. into the vending machine. This system suffers in that a route attendant has no forewarning about remaining product inventory in any particular machine and therefor, may be unable to restock adequate quantities of a product which has been selling rapidly. On the other hand, a route attendant may find himself overstocked with other items. This is inefficient and in the case of perishable products, may cause waste and consequent erosion of profits. Because of these uncertainties, attendants may be forced to visit machines frequently to insure an uninterrupted supply products to potential buyers. By contrast, the present invention provides route attendants with accurate inventory information for a machine prior to visiting the machine thus allowing an optimized machine visitation schedule and minimizing both sold out and out-of-date product situations.
Another system for monitoring vending machines is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,412,292, System For The Remote Monitoring of Vending Machines; issued to Jason K. Sedam, et al. on Oct. 25, 1983. Total sales count and sales dollar volumes are accumulated for each product. A scheduling feature allows a each of a plurality of machines to communicate with a central computer in an orderly fashion via dedicated telephone lines. Abnormal conditions may be called to the central computer in "real time", i.e. as the condition is detected. In contradistinction, the inventory management system of the present invention differs significantly in that total inventory information, i.e. product quantities currently in the machine, not just sold item counts, are kept locally in the vending machine. Sales transactions are individually logged and log information includes the date and time of sale. In the inventive system, each vending machines "knows" immediately about product added or removed by the route attendant. Consequently, at any given moment, accurate up-to-date inventory information, is available. Conversely, in the SEDAM, et al. system, only the central computer contains the inventory status information, and then only after the status is manually entered, possibly many hours after the machine had been serviced, e.g. at the end of a shift. Reconciling physical inventory to the inventory that the central computer assumes is in a particular machine may therefor be difficult.
Another vending machine inventory management system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,091,713 for Inventory, Cash, Security, And Maintenance Control Apparatus And Method For a Plurality of Remote Vending Machines issued to Arthur H. Horne, et al. Feb. 25, 1992. Horne, et al. disclose a system for the remote monitoring of a vending machine. Various environmental parameters are monitored and alarm conditions are established when abnormal machine performance is sensed. The vending machine initiates a call over a standard, dedicated telephone line to a central computer informing the computer of the machine status or of the fact that an individual item has been sold. This system has several disadvantages overcome in the instant invention. First, a dedicated telephone line is required for each machine on the route. This in and of itself is expensive. Second, numerous calls are made by the machine through any given period of time. In remote areas, this may require a toll call. Consequently, the ongoing operational expense may be high. Third, the central computer must be available to monitor calls on a continuous basis and there must be a sufficient number of dial-up ports available on the computer to insure that there is not excessive contention by multiple vending machines attempting to dial into the computer at once. All inventory status information must be maintained at the central computer. By contrast, the inventory control system of the present invention differs significantly in that all inventory information is maintained at the vending machine itself where it may easily be reconciled to physical inventory. In addition, only periodic contacts with the central computer need be made, and such contacts are made via cellular telephone technology eliminating the need for the installation and maintenance of multiple, dedicated telephone lines. The central computer need only be available during certain, predetermined time periods to accept calls from the vending machines.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,400,253 for Automated Statistical Inventory Reconciliation System for Convenience Stores and Auto/truck Service Stations; issued to Paul M. O'Connor on Mar. 21, 1995 teaches an automated system that constantly collects data from a tank monitoring system, a fuel system and point-of-sale systems for the purpose of fuel inventory reconciliation. Statistical data analysis is performed locally and the results of the analysis are periodically communicated to a central computer using ordinary telephone lines. System problems identified by the monitoring equipment are also communicated to the central computer. In contrast, the inventive system differs from the O'Connor systems in several significant ways. First, a vending machine usually dispenses discreet units of merchandise unlike a fuel dispensing system. In addition, in the environment of liquid fuel dispensing, a significant safety hazard exists. Consequently, the O'Connor system heavily orientated towards safety issues. The O'Connor system reconciles inventory to detect losses dues to miscalibration of the fuel dispensers and/or tank leakage. In contrast, the inventory management system of the present invention is oriented to providing uninterrupted supplies of good-selling products and minimizing spoilage losses for slow selling products through an analysis of customer preferences and buying trends.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,404,384 for Inventory Monitoring Apparatus Employing Counter for Adding and Subtracting Objects Being Monitored; issued to Eric R. Colburn, et al. on Apr. 4, 1995 teaches an apparatus suitable for mounting on a wall in a stock room or the like. Items to be monitored are counted by means of a switch actuation as they are added to or removed from a support peg. A microprocessor-based system counts the items as they are added and removed, thereby providing an accurate inventory of the monitored items. In contrast, the system of the present invention logs inventory with price data into the vending machine by scanning bar codes. Items of merchandise removed from inventory through the vending process are automatically counted by the controlling processor. Spoiled merchandise, removed from the vending machine, is also counted using a bar code scanner.
It is, therefor, an object of the present invention to provide an inventory tracking systems resident within a coin-operated vending machine for ease of inventory reconciliation by route restock/service personnel.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an inventory monitoring system with capability for communicating sales transaction, inventory and change supply information periodically to a remote computer.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide communication with a central computer without the need for dedicated telephone lines by using cellular telephone technology.
It is another object of the invention to provide route refill/service employees with an accurate analysis of the sales from individual vending machines so that an optimized mix of products may be made available for refilling the machine.
An additional object of the invention is to provide an inventory management system which tracks the placement of individual items in individual positions or slots within racks so as to allow the placement of mixed inventory in individual racks within a vending machine.
Yet another object of the invention is to track the date and time of sales to allow analyzing purchase patterns and/or trends.
A still further object of the invention is to track the denominations of coins and bills tendered for the purchase of merchandise so as to allow optimizing a change supply for a vending machine.
Another object of the invention is to allow use of a debit card for purchases from a vending machine equipped with the inventory control system of the present invention.